If Wii U was selling at loss... Why is Nintendo
releasing an underpriced bundle?

Because that's what you do. Just look at the PS3, it took years before it could even come close to breaking even. You have to entice so you can bring them in for long run cash.

The PS3 hardware wasn't sold for a true profit until the Super Slim launched, the Slim came closest to breaking even, but the price drop to $250 cut the potential profits. If they made money over the retail wholesale, it was very little.---Know Japanese? Post your advice in the topic below!http://gamefaqs.com/boards/316-gamefaqs-world-japan/63714709

#22iphysPosted 2/12/2013 10:08:11 PM

DemonDog666 posted...

Only the 8GB is selling at a loss, the 32 isn't. the 32 costs them like a buck more then the 8GB.

I find that hard to believe that the extra 24 GB, the digital deluxe promotion, the Nintendo Land disc/case, and the stands only cost them a buck, although it's probably less than the $50 difference.

If it's true that only the 8 GB system is selling at a loss, I don't understand why they initially made half the models Basic when most people clearly wanted the Deluxe from the moment they were announced. Unless Nintendo were really confident that most Basic buyers would buy a first-party game with it, they not only fleeced a lot of early adopters that actually wanted the Deluxe, but they fleeced themselves in the process.

I had to wait over 2 months for Nintendo to finally ship the Deluxe to the store I had credit at, so that actually annoys me even more that they only allocated the Deluxe to certain stores and made the Basic more widely available, if it's only the Basic they're actually selling at a loss.

#23FoppePosted 2/12/2013 10:31:43 PM

Didn't Reggie say that they go + if the Wii U owner buys one game?The basic idea of selling a system underpriced is to get a bigger marketshare, because more people will buy a product the cheaper it is.---GameFAQs isn't going to be merged in with GameSpot or any other site. We're not going to strip out the soul of the site. -CJayC

#24EarthLord_CJPosted 2/13/2013 12:47:32 AM

PENDRAG0ON posted...

The hardware sells at a $21 loss (averaged between the various bundles and regions. When 1 first party game sells, Nintendo makes enough to offset that loss. Mario has a roughly 70% attach rate right now, meaning that they should be close to breaking even on that alone.

That's more or less what I understand, yes.I completely understand the concept of Nintendo's console selling at a loss if the majority of people weren't buying a game with their Wii U purchase (which, considering the way most people word what's been happening, could be the only logical conclusion)....Then again, I hadn't considered 3rd-party titles (of which there are a good few, admittedly), so I can believe that there's still a substantial amount of money not being put into Nintendo's pocket.---http://i.imgur.com/qgqVy.jpg"Don't wanna know...where the sinners go..."